Major Tang Wing Kee took over as the Commanding Officer when Cpt T 0 Aeria resigned in 1967 . That year , the Cadet Corps mounted a big parade on Founder ' s Day to welcome the Prime Minister , Mr Lee Kuan Yew . In the same year , Lts Tan Soo Liap and Kwan Weng Seng replaced Lts Michael Tan and Benedict Oei who resigned the year before . Sgt Stephen Wong an outstanding cadet was selected to represent the Singapore Army Cadet Corps at the India Independence Day Parade in New Delhi . The following year , Major Tang Wing Kee was selected by the British Army to attend a course at the Outward Bound School at Lumut . Sgt Henry Wang brought honour to the Unit by winning the prestigious Major Anwar Latiff Trophy for being the Individual Best Shot in the whole of Singapore .
The year 1969 saw the establishment of a central HQ and the integration of the Land ( Boys ). Land ( Girls ). Sea and Air Cadet Corps into one organisation - the National Cadet Corps of the Republic of Singapore under the control of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Education . In the same year , 2Lt Patrick Tan joined the Unit .
With the abolition of the Annual Inspection Parade by HQ NCC , Major Tang organised the first Passing Out Parade for Recruits in 1970 with Lt Col EML Nicholas , Bde Commander , lSIB asthe Reviewing Officer .
1971 was a sad year for the SJI Unit for it marked the end of a long and close association with the
32nd Regt ., Royal Corps of Transport ( formerly RASC ). For 13 years , Officers and men of the RCT had helped out in the training of our cadets . In addition , they had taken 4 cadets to Kuantan and Port Dickson every year for Adventure Training . A special parade with Lt Col STM Pledger , CO 32nd Regt RCT , as the Reviewing Officer , marked the end of this close association . Lt Col Pledger presented the Unit with a pace stick to commemorate the occasion . This pace stick has been jealously treasured and proudly carried by all our Company Sergeant Majors . In 1971 , Cdt Lt Daniel Ee was selected to represent the NCC at the India Independence Parade . In the same year 2Lt Patrick Tan resigned from the Unit and was replaced by 2Lt Abdul Kashid .
Cadet Lt Ng Joo Seng brought honour to the Unit in 1973 when he was appointed the Parade Commander for the Singapore Youth Festival Parade and again when he was selected to represent the NCC at the India Independence Day Celebrations . A significant development was made this year in the Unit . The " top brass " of the Unit - the senior cadets , both student-officers and NCOs were allowed to voice their opinions in the decision-making process and to carry out training and other related NCC activities independently - often with only the Commanding Officer sitting on the sideline , intervening only when what seemed as insurmountable problems arose . This was inevitable as there was at that moment , an acute shortage of teacher-officers in the Unit . The Commanding Officer , Major Tang was the only teacher-officer left manning the Unit .
2Lt Bala Ganesan , who was awarded the Sword-of-Honour during his training , joined the Unit in 1974 and became its C . O . when Major Tang Wing Kee was promoted Assistant District Commander of the National Cadet Corps on 9th August 1976 .
In 1975 we were fortunate to be attached to 2 SI R under the NCC Attachment Scheme . Cadets benefitted from the help and instruction given by the 2 SI R NCOs in making activities in the Cadet Corps more meaningful and realistic . In the prestigious Haddon Cup Drill Competition , we emerged Runners-Up in the City District . During the June school holidays , Major Tang Wing Kee was selected by HQ NCC to lead a group of officers and Secondary 4 and PU 2 Cadets from Units all over Singapore on an educational tour of Lake Toba , Indonesia . Cdt Lt Geoffrey Lawrence was also selected for this tour .
In 1976 , we beat our arch rivals , Raffles Institution , to emerge City District Champion in the Haddon Cup Drill Competition . Because of this , we were selected to represent the City District in the NCC Day Parade and the National Day Parade . Lcp Alexander Poh , who attended the Senior NCOs Course organised by HQ NCC , topped the class and was awarded the Best Trainee Trophy .
At the moment of writing , the strength of the Cadet Corps is 165 . The activities in the NCC are numerous , varied , interesting and challenging . Cadets learn foot and arms drill , map-reading , weapontraining , individual field-craft , air-photo reading , first aid and are also given leadership training . They learn to camp out in the open , during week-ends in " bash as " they themselves build , and do their own " fieldcooking ". They are taught and are also given opportunities to shoot the Air Rifle , the 22 T-Bolt Rifle , the
. 303 Rifle and the AR15 . They also go on Topo Marches and are encouraged to do social work in the various " homes " in Singapore . This explains why the NCC is the most popular uniformed group in the
school . The motto of the Unit has always been : " The impossible we do straight away , Miracles take a little longer "
With this in mind , the unit will continue to produce Cadets of the highest calibre .
by Major Tang Wing Kee
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